University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Winthrop
Hot Shooting Winthrop Hands Asheville First League Loss, 84-69
01.14.2015 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Keon Johnson scored a game-high 22 points as Winthrop roared past UNC Asheville, 84-69 in Big South Conference men's basketball action Wednesday night at Kimmel Arena.
The Eagles (8-8, 3-2 BSC) cruised to the victory and ended the Bulldogs' seven-game BSC winning streak at Kimmel Arena. It was Asheville's worst conference home loss in four seasons.
The Bulldogs (7-8, 3-1 BSC) were led by Andre Rowsey with 16 points, while Sam Hughes and Corey Littlejohn added 11 points each.
Johnson was joined in double figures by Derrick Henry with 15 points. Keon Moore chipped in 13 and Duby Okeke contributed 12 points and four blocked shots.
Winthrop won this game in the first half. The game was tied 14-14 at the 12:42 mark of the opening half but the Eagles would allow the Bulldogs to score just seven points the remainder of the half as the visitors sprinted to a 38-21 lead at intermission.
Johnson had 13 points in the first 20 minutes as he knocked down three 3-pointers. Asheville shot a miserable 29 percent (8-of-28) from the field.
The Bulldogs made a couple of mild rallies in the second half. Winthrop led by as many as 20 at 45-25 on a lay-up from Johnson at the 17:16 mark.
Asheville kept within striking distance and used back-to-back three-pointers from Rowsey and David Robertson to close to 70-60 at the 5:44 mark.
But Winthrop got a stop on the defensive end and Henry knocked down a wide-open trey to push the Eagle lead to 73-60. The Bulldogs could get no closer than 11 the rest of the game.
UNC Asheville begins a two-game road trip this Saturday afternoon when the Bulldogs travel to Campbell for a 4 p.m. contest that will be broadcast on ESPN3.
